Incantations for Laptop and Cello

On July 18th at 6pm at the Cornelia St. Cafe (NYC) I'll be performing a 30 minute set of music on laptop with cellist Lenae Harris. Lenae contributed some incredible playing to my score for The Other Shoe.

I'm calling the evening Incantations for Laptop and Cello as we are opening for poet Kahlil Almustafa and a ceremonial incantatory approach to the music might be appropriate.

In live performance with other musicians, I always try to reimagine the laptop as an organic part of a musical whole; I am not interested in go nowhere "glitchy" noises, a severely limited range of dynamics, and / or "let's run this sample through X plug-in, let it roll, and go get a beer..." I want the joy I experience when exploring sonic possibilities to somehow come across when I'm up there clicking a mouse, hitting pads on a controller, and / or making scribbling motions on the Kaoss pad.

I am definitely looking forward to Kahlil's set. I think he'll be reading material from a new book of poetry he's published. As I get more details, I'll update this post.

Update: Looks like this show will move back and forth between Lenae and I improvising as a duo and Kahlil reading excerpts from his new book 100 Poems For 100 Days. It will be a collaborative mix and flow - which is different than Lenae and I doing a set and then Kahlil doing a separate set.

This will be the first time the three of us have shared the stage, which means the energy level will be high. I've enjoyed and learned so much from improvising over the past five years - and this is yet another opportunity for me to experience the energy and sense of discovery that comes when so much is left to chance. I remember guitarist Stan Smith telling me that one of his favorite ways of meeting and getting to know people is through playing music. I feel the same way.